Global top 100 companies (2017)

from 2016 remained on the list – demonstrating the high levels of resilience and stability.

Top 10

remain as US companies. The US extends its lead, with market capitalisation from 62% to 63%.

Overview

In this report we have ranked the top 100 global companies by market capitalisation and compared how the list has evolved from March 2009 to March 2017. We have identified the risers and the fallers, looked at sector dynamics and presented a view on how the global landscape has changed.

Key highlights

Increase in market cap

The market capitalisation of the 100 largest companies globally increased significantly by $1,861bn or 12% compared to 31 March 2016. This increase more than reversed the dip in 2016 and is the highest value on record.
Nearly 70% of the growth was contributed by the US companies, on the back of strong economic conditions pre and post US elections. Europe managed to arrest two years of value decline but its share continued to decrease proportionately.

Driving the increase

The US is the largest contributor to the top 100, gaining $1,292bn to reach $10,928bn. Strong performance by Amazon and Apple have fuelled the US growth.
China/Hong Kong total market capitalisation increased by 14% compared to last year, reaching $2,025bn with 11 companies in the top 100 (unchanged from 2016), showing that Chinese markets regained some confidence over the past year. Tencent was the top Chinese performer this year, having increased its value by 42% to $272bn since 2016.
While the UK keeps its third position with 5 companies in the Top 100, European companies have never fully recovered from the financial crisis. Europe now accounts for just 22 companies (down 9 compared to 2009 and down 19 compared to 2008), and only 17% of the overall market capitalisation (down from 36% in 2008). While Europe managed to arrest further decline, the value of its companies remains below that of 2013-2015 and 2010-2011.

Top performing sectors

Technology continued to stay just ahead of the financial sector for a second year, underlining the lasting attractiveness of tech companies. The global top three remain technology companies: Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, closely followed by Facebook in sixth position. Apple retains pole position for the sixth year in a row, and this year again clearly pulled ahead of the second ranked Alphabet, managing to double the valuation gap to $175bn from $86bn last year. These giants have an unequalled global reach and have changed our lives and the way we communicate and interact.

"The gap between the US largest companies and the rest of the world continues to widen. US companies are exploiting their global reach, financial strength and ability to innovate - a sharp contrast to those in the UK and Europe, which continue to fall behind in the rankings."